Friday, August 10, 2012

The Egg's Nest (Nutshell Cottage)



The Egg's Nest features a second floor furnished bedroom that can be seen through the surround windows. Those windows were made from 8 double windows, four of which had to be cut in half to make this octagon shape. There is a cup and a vase of flowers on the night stand next to the bed. There is also a chair in the room. I am afraid you cannot see that in these photos.


It is a gift for a special friend, Linda Master http://miraclechicken.blogspot.com/ . Linda has made so many beautiful miniatures for me in the past year. I wanted to make her a house that would reflect her love of birds. She gave up sitting out on her porch this spring / summer because several robins and barn swallows kept deciding build nests there.


All the "timbers" are made of real twigs and the 'daub' is opaque embossing powder. Filling the areas between the twigs with glue and powder is a very tedious proposition. It requires several careful fills to bring the 'daub' up to level with the 'timbers'. I think filling those spaces gives a much more realistic appearance then paint would. The twigs insure I do not have uniform looking timbers.The nests are made of the tiniest acorn caps I have ever seen. I made polymer eggs to put in them.

When I posted that I was totally out of acorn caps, it was Linda who went out and searched for early falling ones and mailed them to me. I couldn't believe it because unbeknownst to her, I was already working on her house and I had to have more caps to finish it.




Thanks also to Tom, who provided the big acorn caps from his yard in Parma, Ohio. "Kilimanjaro"(AKA Kilmouski) and I look forward to your fall crop!



The village is growing!

34 comments:

  1. Oh, my! That is spectacular!!! :D

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  2. Oh Catherine I love this last one! Those surround windows on the second floor make it very special. I am sure Linda will love it as well, it is a beautiful gift!

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  3. What a beautiful piece of work im sure your friend linda will be over the moon!

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  4. So cute!!! I and my sonny love last picture.We especially like the second and third house.
    We wonder what is it for a chain that hangs under the roof??
    Magda and Johnny

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  5. Que maravillosa, sin duda la generosidad de Linda se verá recompensada.
    Un abrazo
    GRACIAS por no tener "word verification"

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  6. It is a breathtaking creation, Catherine! I wish you could have gotten a shot of the interior but understand how difficult that would be. Linda is just going to PLOTZ!

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  7. Wow your little house is amazing. I love all the wonderful windows. The birds nest is very beautiful.
    Hugs Maria

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  8. I wish that REPLY button worked like it does for so many of you on your blogs. Sadly mine seems to be broken.

    Magda and Johnny,

    The reason for the 'cables' (heavy waxed string) is because all these houses are located and hanging in a tree. As the story goes anyway. You might like to read previous posts about other nutshell houses for the story about the village.

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  9. Ok, just as I thought!! Damn you, Catherine!! Pure genius!!!! These babies should sell for at least 2000.00 a pop, if not more. Incredible!!!

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  10. These are so awesome! I really wish I could shrink myself down and visit the insides of these tiny masterpieces.

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  11. OH MYYYY!!!! This nut house is THE most incredible, amazing....you HAVE to see it in person, even the gorgeous pictures do it no justice, wanna know how I know??? Cuz it's mine!!!!!!! I cannot put into words the detail. I told my mother on the phone and she was BLOWN AWAY and I was just describing it :) Thank you Catherine dear friend, I cannot believe how lucky I am to have this fabulous piece---

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  12. Wow Catherine - just wonderful! Love them all.
    Hugs - Lidi

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  13. Gorgeous! I've loved seeing all these nutshell projects as you've posted them individually. but seeing that last photo really made me appreciate the detail and planing you put into each design!

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  14. Hi Catherine! Just amazing and gorgeous! Linda is a lucky friend of you :D! Congrats to Linda!
    Greetings, Ilona

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  15. It is so lovely! Your Nutshell Cottagge is a vision of dreams!
    Soon you will have a Nutshell City! ;)

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  16. I love the little house, Linda is soooo.... lucky to be on the receiving end of this one. Your work are just so detailed and intricate, always a joy to look at :-)

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  17. Bonjour catherine , J ADORE !

    Quel travail exceptionnel . C est si créatif !
    On sens dans ton travail que tu as eu beaucoup plaisir à le faire .
    C est plein d imagination . On rêve de pouvoir apercevoir les petits habitants de ces sublimes maisons .

    Si on reste sans bouger et sans faire de bruit , on aura peut être cette chance ...... CHUT !

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  18. Catherine son una belleza !!!
    que manera de trabajar !!
    felicidades
    besos
    Ü

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  19. Catherine, your nutshell houses are gorgeous!!!!
    Beautiful, I love them all. Great work!!

    Hugs,
    Karin

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  20. Una maravilla....una maravilla....una maravilla...
    Wonderful!

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  21. Preciosa!!! Como todas las demás!! Estoy enamorada de todas.
    Un beso

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  22. My goodness, Catherine! I have been so very out of touch... these are sooo beautiful and incredibly intricate. What wonderful tiny projects!

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  23. Ohh!! Fantastic! Your mini dollhouses are really great and so original!! Regards

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  24. Your hanging village is just adorable Catherine, I must have missed a few of your posts I will go back and read them. What a superb gift you have made.

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  25. So beautiful! It's been a while since my last visit, so I decided to add your site to my favourites.. I don't want to miss any of your works! My tiny fairies would love to live in one of those houses! :)

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  26. Hello Catherine,
    I love seeing your little nut houses. Can you share how you cut the little bits out for windows and doors? I can't imagine doing that. Thank you. Wendy

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  27. Wendy,

    I drill a hole, then thread my jewelers saw blade through the hole and cut it out.

    Catherine XXX

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  28. Catherine, YOU are amazing!!! I can not imagine doing that. Love them. Wendy

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  29. You are SOOOOOOOO tallented! I have been wanting to try and make a dollhouse from scratch but have no idea where to begin. I just discovered your blog through pinterest and am your newest follower! Thanks for sharing your amazing tallent.

    Hugs
    Caroline

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  30. choh... Welcome!!! Thank you so much for your kind words about my work.

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